Press Release – Quilliam Launches New Report on FGM in Britain at the House of Commons

Quilliam International is excited to announce that we are launching our latest report, titled FGM Legislation in Britain: “A National Scandal”, authored by Researcher and Media Strategist, Muna Adil, which Quilliam have produced in association with the AHA Foundation in the US.

The report highlights the dire situation of FGM conviction rates in the UK and aims to act as a catalyst for proactive action on implementing FGM laws in Britain. In the report, we discuss that, just in 2016-2017, 5,391 new cases of FGM were recorded in the UK, yet Britain has failed to bring a single perpetrator of FGM to justice. The report discusses a variety of reasons why Britain remains alone in Europe in its inability to prosecute FGM, including disempowered survivors, a lack of witnesses, cultural sensitivity, a severe lack of education and resources for victims, and the existence of legal loopholes.

The report concludes with a number of practical recommendations that can aid in fast-tracking FGM prosecutions in the country and generally provide more support to victims or potential victims. These include moving the burden of proving FGM from the victims to investigators, identifying high-risk communities and vulnerable girls, training key frontline individuals, incorporating FGM awareness into mandatory sex-ed classes, and addressing the cultural root of the problem.

Author Muna Adil said:

“The fact that we’ve been collecting detailed FGM data for some years now and still haven’t seen a single case brought to justice is a shame and utter disservice to the thousands of young girls and women who have undergone this horrific practice. Disempowered survivors lack the resources, knowledge, and voice to bring charges on their perpetrators, which makes it our duty as civil society to push for a harder, more active stance on this issue, rather than the passive law currently in place. We already have the data to indicate which communities and boroughs are high-risk situations – there is no credible reason for us to be shying away from this issue.”

MP Sarah Champion will be graciously hosting our launch event at the House of Commons, on Monday the 21st May from 18:00-19:30. The event will include a panel of esteemed speakers which includes Ahlam Akram, FGM activist and Director of BASIRA, Amber Hanson, Former Country Officer for Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, and Ethiopia for the State Department, and David Toube, Director of Policy for Quilliam International.